Feel Good Story of the Day

malko

Campesino !! :)
Jan 12, 2013
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Stopped off at a colmado @ Navas, chose tht one to stop cos it is one of the rare selling botellon of agua cascada ( nowadays all seem to sell International and I am not a fan......).
Get my 3 botellon de agua, ask for a batida, didnt have any but she made me taste a cranberry/ chinola/ mango juice, which was great....... got into a discussion on juice making.
As I was about to pay, I saw dark chocolate milkyway!!! Mmmmhhh Dame uno de eso do?a !!!
Pay and leave, back to house a couple of ks down the road.

30 min later a guy on a motorbike stops off in front of the house, where I was out having a chat.
"Tu soy 3el novio de la hija rubia de kiki ? " "si" and he throws me a platic bag and takes off.
In the plastic bag: the milky way I had left on the counter at the colmado.

It put a smile on my face !!!!!
 

dv8

Gold
Sep 27, 2006
31,266
363
0
Now don't any of you mess this up with a feel bad story,..... Please?

i have lots of warm feelings for malko and his dogs so i struggled mentally to write something positive. you must know that this is against my nature and i may die if i come in touch even with the slightest amount of optimism. but i am gonna risk my life to say that all recent weeks we have been foraging the land for cajuil fruits and managed to gather and freeze four large bags. today miesposo took them to his mom so she can make dulce de cajuil and give us a good portion of it. so. free fruits and someone else is to do all the hard work that i will benefit from.

now excuse me while i go to lie down,being nice put a strain on my heart. farewell, fellow posters. ;) :)
 

william webster

Platinum
Jan 16, 2009
30,247
4,329
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Betty Bacall was part Polish......

does that help ???

Lauren Bacall to you.....

Feel better.... you're not the only famous Polak..... forgetting Chas Bronson (him too??)

Seems they have good women under / behind/ in the Iron Curtain - former....
 

dv8

Gold
Sep 27, 2006
31,266
363
0
yes, cajuil is cashew. the fruit looks like that:

28ixj0w.jpg


nuts are not easy to process so i just collect them and then give them away. the fruit can be cooked with sugar to make marmalade/jam like sweet paste. delicious!
 

malko

Campesino !! :)
Jan 12, 2013
5,545
1,327
113
Today I sorted out my "intra muro" zen garden/////as opposed to the conuco outside the walls.
I calmly explained to a haitian lady, friend of my wifes, who we employ from time to time to help my wife, ( I am opposed to having regular maid / garden / pool service. ). U can take the platanos on the 3 diffrent trees, they were only there for decoration, but take out the whole tree.
Just one condition. See those rocks ? On one side there is soil, on the other earth. Keep it that way.
What was meant to happen, happened. U cant change destiny.

Well I shamefuly admit that I left the whole mess like that for 10 days. Instead of meditating:laugh: in the zen garden, I relaxed in my empty swimming pool....... ah bliss ( :alien::alien: ).

So pool is filling up, slowly, slowly......... sorted out my zen garden.
Treated myself to home made mango ice cream and thought " lets get the motorbike out !!".

A couple of days before I left for europe end of april/ begining of may, I had a close scare on my motorbike, featuring a dirt road, a cow, a vegetable truck and a piece of real estate of jungle. I got back home very wobbly, wobbly ( me, not the bike:bunny: ).

So first time back on the bike since then....... got it started more or less ok ( for a punny suziki moto concho type bike that has been sitting there for 3 and half months////// suprised it started to tell the truth......).
And off I went........ I always forget how great it is to ride on the small road in the dr......... great fun for a couple of hours......
 

malko

Campesino !! :)
Jan 12, 2013
5,545
1,327
113
Just one condition. See those rocks ? On one side there is soil, on the other earth. Keep it that way.
What was meant to happen, happened. U cant change destiny......

Oops-----------read soil on one side pebbles on the other.
 

malko

Campesino !! :)
Jan 12, 2013
5,545
1,327
113
I rode down to the local village on my motorbike to the carro publico stop. To pick up some books sent to me from a dr1'er ( thanks !!!! ).
By the way, rode the bike cos the SUv is blocked by 2 sq meters of gravier but thats another story.......
Anyway, arrived there and a motoconcho pointed out I was missing a screw/bolt on the end of suspension thingy........ happens all the time cos of the vibrations and u are supposesto tighting them up often ( new to me......).
Anyway motoconchos guys suggested I stop at one of those gomero/garage type thing on the way home ( and told me to pay only around 30 pesos, which is always a good thing to know ).
A carro publico driver opened his boot and pulled out a bolt and the metal round thing that goes in between ( whatever its called :laugh: ), a spanner and fixes the bike.
Great. Thanks.
And the guy goes off back to his car with the classical "siempre".
Of course I kind of feel obliged to say something like " Espera, te regalo algo ".
No, no way, amswers the guy. See u around bye.

It put a smile on my face
 

malko

Campesino !! :)
Jan 12, 2013
5,545
1,327
113
We went on a camping trip in the mountains, this last weekend.
"We" as in me, my wife, my BIL and his wife and 3 kids, sobrina and her kid, 2 other muchachas, a friend of the family and her punny dog, the donkey and my rottie, rex ( well I call him T but nobody ever understands :laugh:). Oh and also 6 live chicken ( if we carried them up dead themeat would spoil ).

So early 5.00 am start. Off we go. Each time we are better prepared......
After the river over flow and storm and buckets of rain on the last trip ( long story barely made it away..... ). An owner of a finca proposed us a small house ( well 4 walls a roof and a dirt floor, place they use when they are up tending cacao trees in the mountain ), and its outside kitchen.
Great.

So spend 3 nights up there. Great time. River, waterfall, very cool temperature under the cacao trees. Perfect.

Owner of the finca stops by to say hello. A few hours later 2 of his workers stop off with a ration of platanos, a ration of rulos (?), a dozen of yautilla (??) white and yellow, a bag of oranges ( the cabarete variaty, one of my prefered ), 2 dozen fresh water crabs and a bunch of big fresh water shrimps ( or crayfish I am not sure )..........

Just like that, for no reason. Out of kindness.......

How is that for hospitality ???

I LOVE THE CAMPO IN THE DR !!!!!!!!!

Further away from the "modern world", big towns and touristy areas, the much nicer the people. ( just my take.....).
 

dv8

Gold
Sep 27, 2006
31,266
363
0
i know your campo, i believe. are you familiar with a guy called santo? about 50 or 60, works here in POP.
 

malko

Campesino !! :)
Jan 12, 2013
5,545
1,327
113
Santo ?? Off hand no, cant say I do. But I am not very good with names. My MIL/SIL live in POP in los reyes. My MIL, kiki, knows like everybody. ( especially the dead ones..... keeps tabs in a note book to play date numbers in la loteria, when somebody dreams about a dead person :laugh: ).

I am near guananico. We were in the mountains near oja grande.
 

malko

Campesino !! :)
Jan 12, 2013
5,545
1,327
113
Dr customer service : before we left for our camping trip, went to a local colmado and bought a gallon of rum. A week or 10 days ago. 700 pesos ( or maybe 750 cant remember).
As we pack the bags and the donkey, getting ready to leave, my wife drops the rum......... a gallon is a lot of rum.
I wasnt very pleased, u can imagine. I ranted and cussed and pested that the gallon in the end had cost me 1400 pesos.

Anyway when we came home, the colmado guy stopped off at my inlaws where I was drinking coffee. It is a small campo, the story had been round. He asked if I still had the broken bottle and could he please see it. I produced it. The seal around the screw top was still intact. He asked me to let him take it away so he could see if something could be done. Told me to drop round in a couple of days.

Well I went round this morning while a ran a couple of errands. And guess what....... he produced a gallon of rum from under the counter !!!!!
How is that for customer service !!!!!!

I know they speak with the rum delivery guy who reports to Brugal that he broke a bottle and so they write it off. So the colmado guy is not losing anything.

But even so, great service.
 
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dv8

Gold
Sep 27, 2006
31,266
363
0
so... i have this medallion or whatever you call it, with mary, mother of j. it was given to me over 30 years ago by family friends who brought it from pilgrimage to rome. nothing valuable but it was blessed by the pope, jp2. i wanted to pass it on to frieda, our niece. took it to joyeria soler in POP to clean it and fix it with new silver loop for a chain. total price? 100 pesos. and it looks brand new as well after good cleaning. amazing.
https://es-es.facebook.com/pages/Joyeria-Soler/135082656581348

then i was off to la sirena to buy a frame for a photo of my FIL's parents who passed away few years ago. i found their old picture and sent it to a friend to photoshop it a bit. bought a frame and the customer service ladies fixed the picture and gift wrapped it. and this service was gratis. super.
 

malko

Campesino !! :)
Jan 12, 2013
5,545
1,327
113
I am now , on certain points, very doiminicanised.......

My hilux had a flat. Swaped the flat tire for the spare and broke the chain thats umder the car and holds the spare, in the process. So used tape and electrical wire to repair....... that must have been like 4 months ago......
This past month I seem to have a slow leaking tire......
What did I do ?? Yep, just topped it up from time to time......

2 weeks ago I noticed my motorbike was running less smothly and a bit wobbly. Mmh I ll see to it ma?ana.
Ma?ana turned into ma?ana ma?ana and so on.......
Deceided to take the bike to go and buy some cheese and a pick axe handle down the road, a couple of k's. After leaving the colmado the front brake was locked into position....... ok, man think.
Disabled the cable of the brake. But the spring was locked into positon. Thankfully I had my trusty swiss army knife. Managed to half unblock the springy thingy........ ride home carefuly. Dump the bike. Ma?ana.

So yesterday was the big day I was dreading. Lets go and get the 2 SUv tires fixed. ( since I retired at 30 years old, funds are getting scare.....).
Down to a repuesto. No problem says the guy, he can actually fix the 2 tires ( instead of changing them, which would have meant a trip to santiago, and a long and difficult speach explaining why I want the exact same tire size.....).
While I was waiting I had a flash and asked about the motorbike. He said common problem, brakes are old and have siezed up. Ask behind the garage, an old guy does wonders. Old guy says no problem, bring the bike down.

So motoconcho ride up to my house. Get bike. Brakes still half locked, tire is flat now too. Great. Should I unfix the front wheel and carry it down ??
No. When in Rome......... On the way down on my wobbly, half braking, flat tyred bike it started to rain........
Get there finally. Mechanic had brewed a coffee. Sat in a chair in the back yard. Coffee and fags.

20 minutes later, 2 repaired SUV tires, new brakes on bike, new brake cable, new brake handle, fixed bike tire.
I admit I was a bit anxious on the "gringo" price. No need.
Brake (new), cable ( new ), brake handle ( used ). 380 pesos.
2 SUv tires and bike tire repaired plus man power ( bike and fitting suv tires back ) 500 pesos.

Another reason why I love the Dominican Republic !!!!!!!
Back home a mechanic takes a look at your car or bike. Humms and wheezees and before anything is even started, you set back 50 ?.
 

drstock

Silver
Oct 29, 2010
4,502
2,086
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Cabarete
When I arrived here, four years ago, I bought a second hand Montero. Soon afterwards, the exhaust pipe broke. Being new here, I didn't know a mechanic, so I stopped at a workshop I was passing. Coming from England, I expected him to have to order and fit a new exhaust, costing several hundred pounds. To my surprise, the guy said he could fix the old pipe. With trepidation, I asked how much - expecting a big gringo premium. He obviously wanted the work, so he quoted me 500 pesos, which I eagerly accepted and he welded the old pipe together, there and then. Four years later, the pipe is still working fine. Not everything here is expensive!
 

malko

Campesino !! :)
Jan 12, 2013
5,545
1,327
113
My wife was back in europe at my parents, for a holiday, month of september.
When she came back to the dr she said my parents were coming over to visit us in februray. ( I thought, thats OK just make plans without me :bunny: ).
As the weeks go by ( and the bi-weekly phone calls ), I say to my wife that they were probably just being polite. The dr is far, far down on their to-do list. They have visited twice in 5 years ( and once was for my wedding.....).
So we planned other stuff ( ie my wife going back to switzerland to work ).
Last night my father phones and asks if 3 weeks from the end of februray is ok for us...... Oh well, need to check with wife cos she is leaving next week...... My mother speaks up ( one of those 3 way phone thingys.....).

"I am sorry, this is a rush job for the tickets, there are only 4 seats left. Please tell us soon".

I, the innocent soul " no problem, even if my wife is off working, I will be here anyway ".

My beloved mother " Away you go !!!! I am not coming out there if she is not there !!! "

Duhhhhhh........thanks mum. ( but its nice to know my wife and my parents get on well.....:bunny::bored: ).
We will take note that I have been in the dr 4 months, was back in europe may/july/june for work. Saw my parents for a week before they went off on holiday. Before that I was in the dr for 7 months. So I have seen them for a week and a bit in over a year.
Such parental love and care.

P.S. I checked out tickets, since it seemed strange that there is only 4 tickets left. There are loads on lots of diffrent companies.
Phone back.
" Mother, there are loads of available seats. "
"Son, we are leaving begenning of january for 2 weeks in london, than on to miami for 3 weeks and then on to your place in the dr............ and we dont travel coach.........."

Silly me...........
 

dv8

Gold
Sep 27, 2006
31,266
363
0
my mother is the same ungrateful, unloving parent. first time i traveled home with miesposo she bought him 3 different pillows because she was not sure what he liked. number of pillows for moi? ZERO. "you don't use a pillow",she said. ok. every day she made miesposo's favourite food (pierogi) as a side dish and bought him a box of chocolate coated cookies he loves. god help if i tried to touch one cookie, she'd smack my hand faster than a snake snapping the neck of a field mouse. :speechles
 

AlterEgo

Administrator
Staff member
Jan 9, 2009
23,097
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South Coast
my mother is the same ungrateful, unloving parent. first time i traveled home with miesposo she bought him 3 different pillows because she was not sure what he liked. number of pillows for moi? ZERO. "you don't use a pillow",she said. ok. every day she made miesposo's favourite food (pierogi) as a side dish and bought him a box of chocolate coated cookies he loves. god help if i tried to touch one cookie, she'd smack my hand faster than a snake snapping the neck of a field mouse. :speechles

Haha. Mr. AE and I rarely argue about anything, but my parents happened to be staying here with us when we had a spat. My darling mother, rest in peace, said to me "I don't know what happened, but it must have been your fault, because he is so easygoing". Thanks Mom. :)